Question of the Day

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An old fracture recently flared up in the right foot of Washington Redskins quarterback Patrick Ramsey, and it could affect his preparation for Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins.

Ramsey doesn’t believe he’ll be sidelined at Miami, but he admitted yesterday the injury “flared up pretty bad recently” and that it was causing him pain.

“It hurts today, but hopefully by the end of the week, it should be fine,” Ramsey said as he exited Redskin Park.

Although the injury — possibly still a fracture, though Ramsey also called it a bruise — apparently has bothered him to varying extents since training camp, it was revealed only yesterday when coach Steve Spurrier was asked about Ramsey’s struggles Sunday at Carolina.

Ramsey hit just five of 12 passes before halftime, then rallied to throw two touchdown passes in Washington’s 20-17 loss. He missed a number of open targets, including Rod Gardner in the end zone, and seemed to be shuffling his feet and panicking in the pocket.

“Patrick’s got a little bone in his right foot that hurts him,” Spurrier said. “I don’t know if that’s causing his inability to set up real well, or exactly what’s happening. But he’s sort of fidgety with his feet at times, and obviously we wish that his footwork was a little smoother than it’s been lately.”

The injury is so old that Ramsey apparently couldn’t remember when it occurred; “it could have been in high school, it could have been in college,” he said. But he admitted that it makes it “hard to plant and throw.”

“It started hurting in two-a-days a little,” Ramsey said. “I had it X-rayed after practice one day, and that’s when they realized I had a fracture. It’s gone back down since, but the last few weeks it flared up again.”

Still Hue’s call?

Spurrier said he would review the decision to let offensive coordinator Hue Jackson call the plays, even though he once again said Jackson’s performance was “excellent.”

Jackson called plays for Spurrier in two straight games, but the Redskins’ offense generated just 181 yards against the Panthers after picking up 379 yards in the Nov. 9 win over Seattle. There was speculation Spurrier might take back play-calling duties as soon as the unit began to struggle.

The most questionable call against the Panthers appeared to be a third-and-goal quarterback sneak from the 10, but Jackson laughed as he explained Ramsey tucked the ball and took what he could get when a receiver blew his route. Overall, Jackson admitted he wished the offense had been more productive but said the fundamental goal of gaining a shot to win was accomplished.

“It certainly was not what I anticipated, or what we as a staff or an offensive unit anticipated,” Jackson said. “But I’m not concerned with the stats or the numbers. I’m concerned with, are we giving ourselves the opportunity to win?”

The choice for Spurrier is whether the Redskins’ future is with him calling plays or with Jackson. That decision should come soon.

“We’re going to talk about that,” Spurrier said. “I thought Hue did a good job, an excellent job. He called what was our game plan, what was on the script. We ended up probably throwing a little more than we originally thought, but when you run the ball and don’t go very far, that’s what you do. We’ll talk about that later in the week.”

Extra points

Cornerback Rashad Bauman plans to test his ankle tomorrow and then practice Thursday if it responds well. He said the sprain has been healed for about two weeks but that a bruise, which limits the amount of pressure he can put on his leg, continues to affect him. His absence in three straight games has been significant as Washington has played a trio of teams with solid three-man receiving corps. …

Washington’s inability to convert turnovers into points has been a problem in recent weeks. In three losses over the past four games, the Redskins scored nine points off 10 turnovers. In the win over Seattle, they generated 10 points on three turnovers. Only five other NFL teams have a better turnover ratio than Washington (+6). …

Linebacker Jeremiah Trotter confirmed he should have covered Panthers running back Stephen Davis in the flat on the fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter Sunday. Spurrier did note Trotter and the other linebackers did a good job sticking to assignments the rest of the day.

“A couple times we were in man-to-man, I went after the quarterback,” Trotter said. “[Davis] stepped up to block, and he kind of hid behind the line. I saw an opening and I went for it. I’ve got to do a better job of staying with my man. I guess they got me when it counted.” …

An NFL spokesman reiterated the replay of Davis’ disputed winning touchdown was inconclusive, meaning the officials’ call should not have been overturned. On the play, Davis nudged the ball to the goal line with his hands before Redskins safety Matt Bowen knocked it away. …

Offensive tackle Chris Samuels was scheduled to have an MRI on an inflamed knee. However, there are no plans to hold him out of practice.